City councilors in Portsmouth unanimously approved a plan Monday night to move forward with a skate park at the former stump dump site.
During the virtual meeting, about a dozen people spoke in favor of a new park. Among those was a resident who works as a sports announcer for the X-Games as well as some of the Olympic qualifying events that are currently happening.
Skateboarding is one of five sports scheduled to be introduced in the Olympic program in Tokyo this summer.
Nelson Wormstead told councilors that skateboarding teaches children to be resilient and determined. He gave credit to the sport in getting him to where he is today.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Wormstead is also a live event announcer and host for the Street League Skateboarding World Tour U.S. arena stops.
“You can have a life and a career and really build some solid community from a local skate park,” Wormstead told the council.
Tracy George, who said she is a mental health professional, said she is concerned about the well-being of children in the city, saying that kids need healing given the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on them.
“I think this is a time where we need to pull out all the stops that we can in our community to think about their future and how we can offer them different, creative venues to meet and have better opportunities,” George said.
Two children spoke during the public dialogue session, including 7-year-old Vincent “Vinny” Amico. He asked the council to move forward with the skate park because “a lot of kids will use it.”
“I really want a skate park in Portsmouth so me and my friends can go there and have a fun time,” Amico said. “I love to rollerblade, scooter and skateboard.”
A number of members of the public mentioned that because Rye Airfield is now gone, youth have limited options when it comes to where they can legally use their skateboards.
City Councilor Esther Kennedy has been working with students from Portsmouth High School and city officials to help create a plan for the park.
During the meeting, PHS seniors Seamus Durkin and Oliver Sieve talked about skateboarding and the community it creates for youth who are not interested in traditional sports teams.
“Skateboarding is going into the Olympics this year and with the talent that we have that I see in these younger skateboarders, and if we combine that with a new skate park, we very well could have a future Olympian from Portsmouth in skateboarding,” Durkin said.
City officials are hopeful that they may be able to use federal COVID-19 relief funds to pay for the park, which is estimated to cost between $300,000 and $400,000.
Kennedy moved to have City Manager Karen Conard issue a request for proposals using federal, state and/or local funds. All of the city councilors voted to approve Kennedy’s motion.
There will be a blue-ribbon committee formed to further work on the project.
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